OPPONENTS OF KHOMEINI SAID TO LEAVE FRANCE FOR IRAN-IRAQ BORDER
OPPONENTS OF KHOMEINI SAID TO LEAVE FRANCE FOR IRAN-IRAQ BORDER
By RICHARD BERNSTEIN, Special to the New York Times
The New York Times
June 10, 1986
More than 1,000 members of the largest group opposing the Iranian Government have left their headquarters in suburban Paris for an area on the Iran-Iraq border, the group said here today.
The members of the left-wing group, the People's Mujahedeen, apparently left in the weeks before their leader, Massoud Rajavi, left Paris for Iraq on Saturday. Mr. Rajavi's unexpected departure was seen here as part of an effort to restore normal ties between France and Iran and, ultimately, to help win the release of eight or nine Frenchmen being held hostage by pro-Iranian gunmen in Lebanon.
The group, in a communique issued from London today, said that Mr. Rajavi arrived in Iraq early Sunday. He was said to have been greeted by several senior Iraqi officials in the kind of ceremony normally accorded a visiting government leader.
Mr. Rajavi had been living in exile in Paris since 1981 and asserted that he led a network inside Iran of opponents of the fundamentalist Islamic rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The Iranian Government had for years complained to the French about Mr. Rajavi's activities in France and had demanded that they be restricted.
Police Raid Headquarters
On Saturday, the French police raided Mr. Rajavi's headquarters in Auvers-sur-Oise, a Paris suburb, checking the identity papers of the members of the Mujahedeen. Hours later, Mr. Rajavi left by private plane for Iraq.
The French authorities said Mr. Rajavi's departure was ''voluntary'' and they have refused to link it to negotiations aimed at freeing the French hostages being held in Lebanon. But it is widely assumed here that Mr. Rajavi's effective expulsion from France, along with that of a large number of his followers, was aimed at creating conditions for the hostages' release.
In a series of negotiations between France and Iran since the end of March, the Iranians have specified several conditions for the resumption of normal relations. In addition to the expulsion of Mr. Rajavi, the Iranian demands include the repayment of a $1 billion loan made to France before Shah Mohammed Riza Pahlevi was deposed in 1979, and an end to French support for Iraq in the six-year-old Persian Gulf war.
Readiness for Some Concessions
The French have indicated that they are prepared to make concessions on some of the Iranian demands, but they have said they would not change their basic policy of support for Iraq.
In their communique, the Mujahedeen organization said today that Mr. Rajavi went to Iraq ''to neutralize'' what it called the ''Khomeini regime's conspiracies,'' a reference to the Iranian request that anti-Government activities be restricted.
''The Khomeini regime, being faced with daily worsening internal crises, is once again resorting to its customary methods, including hostage-taking and political blackmail, in a bid to pressure other countries to restrict the just Iranian resistance,'' the communique said.
The communique said the 1,000 Mujahedeen members who left in the last several weeks would go to an area on the Iran-Iraq border, presumably to join anti-Government guerrilla forces that the group says it maintains there.
More than 1,000 members of the largest group opposing the Iranian Government have left their headquarters in suburban Paris for an area on the Iran-Iraq border, the group said here today.
The members of the left-wing group, the People's Mujahedeen, apparently left in the weeks before their leader, Massoud Rajavi, left Paris for Iraq on Saturday. Mr. Rajavi's unexpected departure was seen here as part of an effort to restore normal ties between France and Iran and, ultimately, to help win the release of eight or nine Frenchmen being held hostage by pro-Iranian gunmen in Lebanon.
The group, in a communique issued from London today, said that Mr. Rajavi arrived in Iraq early Sunday. He was said to have been greeted by several senior Iraqi officials in the kind of ceremony normally accorded a visiting government leader.
Mr. Rajavi had been living in exile in Paris since 1981 and asserted that he led a network inside Iran of opponents of the fundamentalist Islamic rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The Iranian Government had for years complained to the French about Mr. Rajavi's activities in France and had demanded that they be restricted.
Police Raid Headquarters
On Saturday, the French police raided Mr. Rajavi's headquarters in Auvers-sur-Oise, a Paris suburb, checking the identity papers of the members of the Mujahedeen. Hours later, Mr. Rajavi left by private plane for Iraq.
The French authorities said Mr. Rajavi's departure was ''voluntary'' and they have refused to link it to negotiations aimed at freeing the French hostages being held in Lebanon. But it is widely assumed here that Mr. Rajavi's effective expulsion from France, along with that of a large number of his followers, was aimed at creating conditions for the hostages' release.
In a series of negotiations between France and Iran since the end of March, the Iranians have specified several conditions for the resumption of normal relations. In addition to the expulsion of Mr. Rajavi, the Iranian demands include the repayment of a $1 billion loan made to France before Shah Mohammed Riza Pahlevi was deposed in 1979, and an end to French support for Iraq in the six-year-old Persian Gulf war.
Readiness for Some Concessions
The French have indicated that they are prepared to make concessions on some of the Iranian demands, but they have said they would not change their basic policy of support for Iraq.
In their communique, the Mujahedeen organization said today that Mr. Rajavi went to Iraq ''to neutralize'' what it called the ''Khomeini regime's conspiracies,'' a reference to the Iranian request that anti-Government activities be restricted.
''The Khomeini regime, being faced with daily worsening internal crises, is once again resorting to its customary methods, including hostage-taking and political blackmail, in a bid to pressure other countries to restrict the just Iranian resistance,'' the communique said.
The communique said the 1,000 Mujahedeen members who left in the last several weeks would go to an area on the Iran-Iraq border, presumably to join anti-Government guerrilla forces that the group says it maintains there.
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